


Koi No Yokan

by stardust_writer



Category: Free!
Genre: Childhood Friends, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Pining, Seasons of Anime Exchange 2020, SofA 2020, mythical creatures AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26197126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardust_writer/pseuds/stardust_writer
Summary: The legend of bonded familiars was supposed to be akin to something like the red string of fate. A story of true love and soulmates.It never really mattered much to Haru. Haru thinks it was likely another bogus tale people invented to justify their relationships to those who didn’t approve. Something people said to be able to love whomever they wanted.Haru didn’t really care much for it, but Makoto did.----AU Where you get a familiar on your 12th birthday and more.
Relationships: Nanase Haruka/Tachibana Makoto
Comments: 3
Kudos: 38
Collections: Seasons of Anime Exchange 2020





	Koi No Yokan

**Author's Note:**

  * For [neenswrites](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neenswrites/gifts).



> For my giftee, I'm so sorry I didn't do this justice! Let's just say that somethings got in the way, so this sort of looks more like a vignette to what I originally had planned. Once things settle down, I'll edit this, make this what it was supposed to be, and give you the gift you deserve!!

_ There is a story from a time so long ago that it was considered legend. _

_ It was a story of two lovers whose love could be felt across the lands. Anyone who laid eyes on them knew instantly that they were in love. But one day, a terrible war called forth one of the lovers to fight. Terrified that they might lose their beloved, the remaining lover sought the help of the Enchantress in the forest. _

_ “Give this to them,” the Enchantress said. She gave the remaining lover two tiny eggs, small enough to be mistaken for a bean. “Have them take one, and you take the other. On the night of a full moon, you must swallow it and utter your lover’s name seven times. Your souls will be bound together, ensuring that you will find your way back to each other no matter the circumstances.” _

_ The lovers do as they’re told. On the night of a full moon, just before the one called to war was meant to leave, they each swallowed an egg and uttered each other’s name seven times. For a moment there was nothing. Then a warmth bloomed in their chests, light began to seep through the place where their hearts should be and spread through the whole room. _

_ When the light died down, they were no longer the only two beings in the room. The eggs had given them familiars. Familiars that represented their soul bond. They spent the rest of the night wrapped in each other, only letting go when it was time to leave. The lover called to war brought their familiar with them, and the lover who remained watched them go as their own familiar perched itself on their shoulder. _

_ The legend branches off after that. Some say the familiar protected the lover called to war, and brought him home safe and sound once the war was over. Others say that the lover died in the war, his familiar following suit. In heartbreak, the remaining lover and their familiar died soon after, reuniting them in the after life. There are many more theories as to what happened after, but one thing was certain. _

_ Both lovers found their way back to each other every time. _

* * *

The legend of  _ bonded familiars  _ was supposed to be akin to something like the red string of fate.

_ A story of true love and soulmates _ .

It never really mattered much to Haru. According to statistics, only one out of ten people actually had bonded familiars. It was such a small group that scientists were reluctant to even consider bonded familiars a fact. Haru thinks it was likely another bogus tale people invented to justify their relationships to those who didn’t approve. Something people said to be able to love whomever they wanted.

Haru didn’t really care much for it, but Makoto did.

From when they were kids, up to the moment they both got their familiars, Makoto would babble to Haru about the legend.

“There’s a version that might actually explain why not everyone has bonded familiars,” is Makoto’s topic of the day. “It’s said that after the war, the couple didn’t make it back to each other, and instead moved on to start families of their own. And then when they were nearing the end of their lives, they chanced upon each other and spent their remaining days together.”

Haru nods. While he didn’t really care for the topic or it’s stories, he cared for Makoto. And that meant actively listening to whatever he was babbling about.

His own familiar—a korobokkuru with a tiny button nose and large, blue eyes that he named Mizu—on the other hand, seemed very invested in Makoto’s words. She had moved from her usual spot on Haru’s shoulder to Makoto’s instead, her eyes wide with wonder as she took in every word. Every once in a while, she’d glance down at Makoto’s familiar—a kitsune he called Kotarou—as if she were trying to decide whether or not to jump down and ride on his back.

“It’s said that the descendants of the couple were the only ones that inherited the gift of having bonded familiars and that, eventually, that gift turned into a recessive gene.”

“If that’s true, then how come everyone has a familiar?”

“The story is from so long ago, Mizu,” Makoto says. He talks to Mizu like he usually does with Ran and Ren, kindly and patiently. “It’s likely that we’re all distant descendants of the couple, and since the gene is recessive, even if everyone has a familiar, not all of them are bonded familiars.”

This time, thinking the story is over, Mizu jumps down to perch herself on Kotarou’s head.

Haru watches as she nuzzles her face into Kotarou’s fur and the kitsune whines in content. He feels the hint of a smile find its way on his face and tries to keep it down. From the moment Makoto got Kotarou, he and Mizu (who Haru had just gotten a couple of months earlier) had developed a bond as strong as Makoto and Haru’s. Haru tried not to think too much about it. After all, it was very unlikely that the two familiars wouldn't take a liking to each other, what with their owners being best friends since they were little.

He recalls a version of the tale that Makoto had once spouted. A version where the bonded familiars are identified based on how they react to each other. Of course, like all the bonded familiar stories, Haru disregards them. Still, he pretends he doesn't feel a twinge in his heart when he sees Mizu and Kotarou sleeping next to each other when he and Makoto pull all-nighters for school, or when Mizu actively searches for Kotarou until Haru just realizes she's missing and Makoto is already bringing her back to him after she ran off to his house.

He pretended that the twinge he felt was more for Makoto than for their familiars. The twinge that he felt when Makoto smiled, the one that came when Makoto would pass by his house out of nowhere just to bring him food, the one that would make him stop in place when Makoto agreed with even his most ridiculous request—

Haru didn’t care much for the legend of bonded familiars. But knowing that his and Makoto’s familiars were close was fine enough for him. He can be fine with that. He should be fine with that. He's fine.


End file.
